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Firefighter who saved dangling construction workers hailed as hero

SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A firefighter who led the charge to save two workers dangling from the side of a building in Palmetto Bay is now being hailed as a hero.

“You have to have a lot of faith in your training, and it does take over when the time comes,” said Miami-Dade Fire Rescue firefighter Maggie Castro.

Castro described the ordeal of rescuing the two victims as they dangled on the side of the building, Tuesday.

“When we go to the rooftop and we started setting everything up, it just became almost like on autopilot. It was just like, ‘Go go go,'” Castro said.

Castro was attached to a rope system and lowered from the top of the six-story building until she got to the workers. She had to grab each worker and lower them to safety using her ropes.

Castro has been with Miami-Dade Fire Rescue for 14 years. Her son is also a firefighter for the county.

“I just hope that, based on what I’ve been doing, I can just be a good role model for anybody — female or male,” Castro said. “[For all the girls] that ever thought, ‘Maybe being a firefighter would be a cool thing. I wonder if I could do it.’ I hope that the girls that are watching that ever thought about it say, ‘You know what? I can do it.'”

Castro is one of 25 women on Miami-Dade’s Technical Rescue team, which is made up of over 300 people.

“I love being the one that they call when they can’t call anybody else,” Castro said. “It’s amazing. It is truly the call of a lifetime. I was on a cloud the rest of the day.”

Castro is also a part of an extrication competition team that trains and competes across the globe against teams from other fire departments.

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